I recently finished gothing up a picture frame using some cheap novelties, hot glue, and paint, and am quite delighted with the results. It’s much easier and faster than you’d expect, and the finished product is spectacular. I’ve posted a how-to guide for those of you who might be feeling crafty. (For those of you who aren’t, I’m taking special orders for custom frames. E-mail me for details.)

If there were a way to tongue-kiss an entire retail organization, I would be among the first to have the Oriental Trading Company in a close embrace. They have novelties, party supplies, crafts, toys, all dirt cheap. Go to their site, do a search on “skull” or “spider,” and allow your mind to be blown by the possibilities.

Whilst nosing about for ready-made plaster skulls for a project (which I’ll be posting about soon), I ran into this nice how-to guide, copiously illustrated, for making your own little skulls out of polymer clay. The step-by-step guide is so thorough that I’m tempted to take a crack at making a few, even though I am utterly hopeless where sculpting is concerned.

One of the more popular items at Shadow Manor are the Goth Frogs, stuffed toys bedecked in Gothic finery. The members of the current set (Baron Samedi and two zombies) have finally been joined by Erzulie, the sexiest Voodoo frog you’re likely to see all day. And I stand behind that statement.